Nicholas McGegan Conducts Bach and Stravinsky (Feb. 10) and Handel's "Rinaldo" (Feb. 17)

NEW YORK –– Nicholas McGegan conducts Juilliard415 and the Juilliard Orchestra on Monday, February 10, 2020, in works by Bach and Stravinsky. The concert begins with the New York premiere of Sweet Pulcinella, an arrangement of the original source material that inspired Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella by faculty member Gonzalo X. Ruiz, followed by Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048, and the Juilliard Orchestra performing Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat Major (“Dumbarton Oaks”) and Pulcinella Suite.

The following week, McGegan will conduct a concert version of Handel’s Rinaldo, HWV 7, with Juilliard415 and singers from Juilliard’s Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts on Monday, February 17, 2020, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. The cast features Maggie Reneé Valdman (Goffredo/Eustazio); Hyoyoung Kim (Almirena); Karin Osbeck (Rinaldo); Erik van Heyningen (Argante); Jessica Niles (Armida); and Song Hee Lee (Donna).

Rinaldo will be taken on tour to Germany’s Göttingen Handel Festival, where Juilliard415 makes its debut on Saturday, May 30, 2020, followed by a performance on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at SPOT/De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Holland.

Tickets for both concerts are $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) and are available at juilliard.edu/calendar for Feb. 10 and  Feb. 17.

These programs are part of the 10th-anniversary celebration of Juilliard Historical Performance, which is taking place throughout the 2019-20 season. Juilliard’s full-scholarship Historical Performance program was established and endowed by the generous support of Bruce and Suzie Kovner.

Meet the Artists

As he embarks on his sixth decade conducting, Nicholas McGegan is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. The 2019-20 season marks the final year of his 34-year tenure as music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) and Chorale. He remains principal guest conductor of the Pasadena Symphony. Best known as a Baroque and Classical specialist, McGegan’s approach—intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic—has led to appearances with many of the world’s major orchestras. His 2019-20 guest appearances in North America include his return to the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Houston, Baltimore, St. Louis, New Jersey, and Pasadena symphonies. He led an all-Mozart program in fall 2019 at the Hollywood Bowl and rejoins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra later this season for a program of Rameau, Mozart, and Schubert. Abroad, McGegan leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and makes guest appearances with the Szczecin and Wroclaw philharmonics. Summer festivals include Aspen and La Jolla. McGegan’s prolific discography includes more than 100 releases spanning five decades. Having recorded more than 50 albums of Handel’s music, McGegan has explored the depths of the composer’s output with a dozen oratorios and close to 20 of his operas. Under its own label, Philharmonia Baroque Productions, PBO has released acclaimed albums of Handel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Brahms, Haydn, Beethoven, and more. McGegan’s latest release with PBO is Handel’s rarely performed Joseph and His Brethren. McGegan is committed to the next generation of musicians, frequently conducting and coaching students in residencies and engagements at Juilliard, Yale, Harvard, the Colburn School, Aspen Music Festival and School, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West. McGegan was born in England and educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas.” Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony (Germany); the Medal of Honor of the City of Göttingen, and a declaration of Nicholas McGegan Day, by the mayor of San Francisco in recognition of his work with PBO.

Maggie Reneé Valdman, a mezzo-soprano from Los Angeles, California, is a fourth-year undergraduate at Juilliard studying with Elizabeth Bishop. In 2019, Valdman appeared as Carmen in La Tragédie de Carmen with City Lyric Opera, toured Europe with Juilliard’s production of Dido and Aeneas, studied with Dolora Zajick at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, and made solo debuts with the Reno Philharmonic and the California Philharmonic Orchestra at Disney Hall. In summer 2018, Valdman sang Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro as an apprentice artist at Teatro Nuovo, formerly Bel Canto at Caramoor. In 2017, Valdman made her European debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro in Berlin, Germany. In addition to opera, Valdman sings a variety of repertoire in different genres in more than 10 languages and has a CD of her original music out on iTunes.

Soprano Hyoyoung Kim, hailing from Seoul, South Korea, is a first-year master’s student in voice at Juilliard, where she studies with Edith Wiens. Her most recent appearances include Palm Beach Opera, Spoleto Festival, Vancouver Opera’s NYIOP Korea audition, and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Seoul National University. She has also participated in master classes with Helmut Deutsch and David Blackburn. A recipient of multiple honors and scholarships, she is a winner of the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) competition and second prize at the Jungang competition in Korea, including four performances with KBS orchestra. In 2017, she was selected as a Kumho Foundation Young Artist solo recitalist, and she gave duo concerts in 2018 and 2019. She holds a Toulmin Foundation Scholarship.

Mezzo-soprano Karin Osbeck from Stockholm is an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at Juilliard, where she studies with Elizabeth Bishop. Osbeck has performed as Nancy in Britten’s Albert Herring and the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the University College of Opera in Stockholm, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. This season, Osbeck has performed as Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera in Stockholm with American conductor John Fiore. She received the prestigious Jenny Lind Scholarship in 2016, which encompassed a recital tour in both North America and Sweden. At Juilliard, she holds the Patricia Haspert Scholarship in Vocal Arts, the Jack Bakal Classical Artist Scholarship, the Higley Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

Baritone Erik van Heyningen, hailing from Poway, California, is an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies student at Juilliard, where he studies with William Burden. In summer 2019, van Heyningen was featured in a new production of Salome at the Spoleto Festival, and he appeared as Fernando in La gazza ladra with Teatro Nuovo. Van Heyningen appeared with the Cecilia Chorus of New York in its 2019 performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. His 2020 performances include Escamillo in Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria, and Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte with the Santa Fe Opera. He spent two summers with the Santa Fe Opera as an apprentice artist, where he received the Donald Gramm Memorial Award. He also spent three summers with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where he received the Richman Memorial Award. At Juilliard, he holds the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Scholarship, the Dr. Gary Portadin Scholarship, the Higley Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

From Alexandria, Virginia, soprano Jessica Niles is pursuing her master’s degree studying with Edith Wiens at Juilliard. Concert highlights include Handel’s Aminta e Fillide with Juilliard415 conducted by William Christie at the Morgan Library & Museum and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall. Niles regularly curates recitals of art song and chamber music, and premieres new works including her commission The Opposite of Loneliness: A Chamber Piece (Wenzelberg). Recital highlights include Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson, coached by conductor Pierre Vallet, Liza Lehmann’s vocal quartet In a Persian Garden, coached by Craig Rutenberg and Schoenberg’s String Quartet No.2. Niles made her Alice Tully Hall debut in December in Juilliard’s Songfest. Her operatic roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore. She is the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

Soprano Song Hee Lee, born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, is in the second year of her bachelor’s studies at Juilliard, where she studies with William Burden. In her first year, Lee performed song repertoire and opera scenes, including Susanna in Don Giovanni. Last summer, she participated in the Académie Internationale d’Été de Nice. There, she participated in a master class with Dalton Baldwin and performed scenes from Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Ravel’s L'enfant et les sortilèges. Lee is making her Alice Tully Hall debut with the role of Donna in Handel’s Rinaldo with Juilliard415.

About Juilliard415

Since its founding in 2009, Juilliard415, the school’s principal period-instrument ensemble, has made significant contributions to musical life in New York and beyond, bringing major figures in the field of early music to lead performances of both rare and canonical works of the 17th and 18th centuries. The many distinguished guests who have led Juilliard415 include Paul Agnew, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Harry Bicket, William Christie, Richard Egarr, Monica Huggett, Ton Koopman, Rachel Podger, Jordi Savall, and Masaaki Suzuki.

Juilliard415 tours extensively in the U.S. and abroad, having performed on five continents with notable appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, Leipzig Bachfest, and Utrecht Early Music Festival (where Juilliard was the first-ever conservatory in residence), and on a 10-concert tour of New Zealand. With its frequent musical collaborator, the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the ensemble has played throughout Italy, Japan, Southeast Asia, the U.K., and India.

Juilliard415, which takes its name from the pitch commonly associated with the performance of Baroque music, A=415, has performed major oratorios and fully staged productions: Handel’s Agrippina and Radamisto; Bach’s Matthew and John Passions; Cavalli’s La Calisto; Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; and performances in the U.S. and Holland of Bach’s Mass in B Minor conducted by Ton Koopman. In the 2017-18 season, the ensemble made an appearance in Bolivia, in a tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State that marked the ensemble’s South America debut. The 2017-18 season was notable for the Juilliard debuts of the rising conductor Jonathan Cohen and the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, a side-by-side collaboration with Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, as well as return visits by Rachel Podger, William Christie, an all-Bach concert with Maestro Suzuki, and the rare opportunity to see a fully-staged production of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie. The 2018-19 season included international performances in Canada, London, Versailles, and throughout Scandinavia. In New York, Juilliard415 welcomed Paul Agnew and Alfredo Bernardini for their Juilliard debuts.

This season, Juilliard415’s schedule includes concert led by Paul Agnew, Kristian Bezuidenhout, William Christie, Richard Egarr, Rachel Podger, Masaaki Suzuki, and Juilliard Historical Performance director Robert Mealy as well as, in his Juilliard415 debut, Pablo Heras-Casado. The 2019-20 season takes Juilliard415 to Paris for performances at the Philharmonie de Paris, to Germany for the Göttingen Handel Festival to perform Rinaldo under McGegan, and on tour in New Zealand.

About the Juilliard Orchestra

Juilliard’s largest and most visible student performing ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, is known for delivering polished and passionate performances of works spanning the repertoire. Comprising more than 350 students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, the orchestra appears throughout the season in concerts on the stages of Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Carnegie Hall.

The orchestra is a strong partner to Juilliard’s other divisions, appearing in opera and dance productions as well as presenting an annual concert of world premieres by Juilliard student composers. The Juilliard Orchestra welcomes an impressive roster of world-renowned guest conductors this season including Marin Alsop, Elim Chan, alumnus Jörg Widmann, and alumna Keri-Lynn Wilson as well as faculty conductors Jeffrey Milarsky and David Robertson.

The Juilliard Orchestra has toured across the U.S. and throughout Europe, South America, and Asia, where it was the first Western conservatory ensemble allowed to visit and perform following the opening of the People’s Republic of China in 1987; it returned two decades later, in 2008.

Other ensembles under the Juilliard Orchestra umbrella include the conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Wind Orchestra, and the new-music groups AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.

About Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts

One of America’s most prestigious programs for educating singers, Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to an advanced Artist Diploma in Opera Studies, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center’s stages, and around New York City. Juilliard Opera has presented numerous premieres of new operas as well as works from the standard repertoire.

Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as Leontyne Price, Renée Fleming, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, Simon Estes, and Shirley Verrett. Recent alumni include Isabel Leonard, Susanna Phillips, Paul Appleby, Erin Morley, Sasha Cooke, and Julia Bullock.

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Program Listing:

Monday, February 10, 2020, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall
Juilliard415 and the Juilliard Orchestra
Nicholas McGegan, Conductor

Gonzalo X. Ruiz     Sweet Pulcinella (New York premiere)
J.S. Bach                Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
Stravinsky               Concerto in E-flat Major, “Dumbarton Oaks”
Stravinsky               Pulcinella Suite

Monday, February 17, 2020, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall
Handel's Rinaldo, HWV 7
Juilliard415 and Singers from Juilliard’s Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts
Nicholas McGegan, Conductor

Goffredo/Eustazio: Maggie Reneé Valdman
Almirena: Hyoyoung Kim
Rinaldo: Karin Osbeck
Argante: Erik van Heyningen
Armida: Jessica Niles
Donna: Song Hee Lee

Tickets for both concerts are $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) and are available at juilliard.edu/calendar for Feb. 10 and  Feb. 17.